This invention relates to a vending machine for vending articles and, in particular, those which have a regular shape. The invention has particular application to the vending of compact discs but, as will be apparent, the vending machine could be used to vend other articles if desired or required.
Vending machines generally comprise a storage compartment in which articles to be sold are kept. Upon purchase of an article, the vending machine generally moves the article to a position by means of a spiral wire or by opening a door to enable the article to fall under the influence of gravity to an outlet opening for collection by the purchaser. If spiral wires are used to bend articles, a separate motor for each wire is required which increases cost and size. Conventional vending machines are not suitable for the vending of compact discs. The main reason for this is due to the number of discs which would need to be maintained in the vending machine to make the machine viable for the vending of compact discs. Conventional storage systems would not store a large number of different discs unless the storage space and therefore the vending machine was extremely large. Furthermore, the dispensing technique of merely allowing the article to drop a significant distance under gravity is also not suitable for compact discs because of the possibility of cracking or breaking of the cases if the discs are handled in that manner.
The object of the present invention is to provide a vending machine for vending articles such as compact discs.
The invention may be said to reside in a vending machine for vending articles, including:
user input means for allowing a user to input information relating to purchase of one of the articles;
payment receiving means for receiving payment relating to purchase of the article;
a vending unit for storing the articles and for dispensing the articles to a purchaser;
control means coupled to the vending unit, the user input means and the payment receiving means for receiving data from the user input means concerning the article to be purchased, determining that payment has been made and for causing the vending unit to dispense the article; and
wherein the vending unit includes:
a storage compartment for storing a plurality of the articles;
or a carriage mounted below the storage compartment and movable relative to the storage compartment, the carriage having an open bottom;
a floor below the open bottom of the carriage;
an outlet opening in the floor;
moving means for moving the carriage to align the carriage with a particular one of the articles stored in the storage compartment and then to the outlet opening after receipt of the article; and
release means for releasing the article from the storage compartment so the article falls under the influence of gravity into the aligned carriage so that the carriage can receive the article and transport the article to the outlet opening with the article sliding on the floor and dropping from the carriage through the outlet opening when the carriage arrives at the outlet opening to thereby dispense the article.
Since the vending unit includes the storage compartment and the carriage which is moved to receive an article a large number of articles can be stored in a relatively small area for collection by the carriage and for movement to the dispensing station and since the carriage receives the article and transports the article to the dispensing station, articles can be dispensed without articles having to free fall a significant distance under the influence of gravity.
Preferably the storage compartment includes a plurality of sections so that articles can be stacked in the sections one above the other.
Preferably the release means comprises a pivotally mounted latch for holding the aligned articles in each section.
Preferably the carriage is mounted for movement below the compartment and includes a plunger for contacting the latch moving the latch to release the article so the article can drop into the carriage for transportation to the dispensing station.
Preferably the plunger includes a solenoid for moving the plunger from a retracted position to an extended position so that in the extended position the plunger engages the latch and pivots the latch out of engagement with the article to enable the article to drop into the carriage.
Preferably the carriage is coupled to an endless belt and the belt is driven by a stepping motor to drive the carriage beneath the storage compartment into registry with a particular one of the articles stored in the storage compartment.
Preferably the carriage includes a wheel for facilitating movement of the carriage.
Preferably the carriage includes:
a sensor for determining the position of the carriage beneath the storage compartment,
a sensor for detecting when the carriage is in a home position;
a sensor for determining whether an article is within the carriage; and
a sensor for determining whether articles are stored in the sections of the storage compartment.
Preferably the sensors are optical sensors.
Preferably the carriage has an open bottom so that when an articles is received in the carriage, the article contacts a floor of the vending unit for sliding movement on the floor when the carriage transports the article to the dispensing station.
Preferably the dispensing station comprises an opening in the floor of the unit so that when the carriage is brought into registry with the opening, the article is able to fall from the carriage through the opening for collection by the purchaser.
Preferably the opening is closed by a spring biased closure door which is open by the carriage when the carriage moves into registry with the opening.
Preferably the user input means comprises a touch screen which displays information so that the user can input commands by touching the screen in response to the information displayed on the screen. Preferably the user input means also includes a pindad for input of information into the pinpad.
Preferably the payment receiving means comprises a card reader for receiving a financial transaction card such as a credit card or EFTPOS card or smart card for enabling payment in respect of the article. However, in other embodiments, the payment receiving means could comprise coin or note slots for receipt of coins or notes in order to make the payment.
The invention also provides a vending machine for vending articles, including:
user input means for allowing a user to input information relating to purchase of one of the articles;
payment receiving means for receiving payment relating to purchase of the article;
a vending unit for storing the articles and for dispensing the articles to a purchaser;
control means coupled to the vending unit, the user input means and the payment receiving means for receiving data from the user input means concerning the article to be purchased, determining that payment has been made and for causing the vending unit to dispense the article; and
wherein the vending unit includes:
a plurality of storage compartments each for storing articles stacked one above another;
a carriage movable relative to the storage compartments;
moving means for moving the carriage to align the carriage with a particular one of the articles stored in the storage compartment;
a latch associated with each of the plurality of storage compartments, each latch having an engaging portion for engaging a lowermost one of the articles stacked in each plurality of storage compartments and for holding the articles, and each latch having a retaining portion so that when the latch is moved to withdraw the engaging portion from the lowermost article to release the lowermost article, the retaining portion is moved concurrently into engagement with the article above the lowermost article to hold the article above the lowermost article and any articles above that article so that only the lowermost article is dispensed from the respective storage compartment and upon return of the latch the retaining portion disengages so that the articles can drop under the influence of gravity and be held by the engaging portion within the storage compartment.
The invention still further provides a vending machine for vending articles, the articles having a bottom and a front face, including:
user input means for allowing a user to input information relating to purchase of one of the articles;
payment receiving means for receiving payment relating to purchase of the article;
a vending unit for storing the articles and for dispensing the articles to a purchaser;
control means coupled to the vending unit, the user input means and the payment receiving means for receiving data from the user input means concerning the article to be purchased, determining that payment has been made and for causing the vending unit to dispense the article; and
wherein the vending unit includes:
a storage compartment for storing a plurality of the articles with the bottom being substantially horizontal and the front face being substantially vertical;
a carriage mounted below the storage compartment and movable relative to the storage compartment, the carriage having an open bottom;
a floor below the open bottom of the carriage;
an outlet opening;
moving means for moving the carriage to align the carriage with a particular one of the articles stored in the storage compartment and then toward the outlet opening after receipt of the article;
an abutment adjacent the floor so that when the carriage moves the article over the abutment the article drops in front of the abutment, the moving means being for reversing movement of the carriage so that the article is drawn backwards and is tipped, by the backward movement of the carriage and engagement of the article with the abutment, onto the front face of the article to remove the article from the carrier; and
dispensing means for dispensing the article out of the vending unit through the opening.
Preferably, the dispensing means comprises the carriage which, after the article is removed from the carriage during backward movement of the carriage, the carriage is moved towards the opening by the moving means to push the tipped article through the opening.
Preferably, the floor has a plurality of strips and the abutment is formed by an end of the strips spaced from the outlet opening so that when the carriage is moved towards the outlet opening the bottom of the article slides on the strips and then drops over the end of the strips as the carriage passes over the end of the strips.
Preferably, the carriage has a front flap movable from a closed position to an open position as the carriage moves backwards to enable the article to be removed from the carriage as the article is tipped by the abutment during backward movement so the carriage.
Preferred embodiments of the invention will be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a front view of a vending machine according to one embodiment;
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a vending unit according to the embodiment of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a side view of the vending unit of FIG. 2 partly broken away to show internal detail;
FIG. 4 is a view along the line IVxe2x80x94IV of FIG. 3;
FIG. 5 is a view along the line Vxe2x80x94V of FIG. 3;
FIG. 6 is a partly broken away perspective view of the part of the vending unit shown in FIG. 3;
FIG. 7 is a rear view of a carriage used in this embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 8 is a front view of the carriage of FIG. 7;
FIG. 9 is a side view of the carriage of FIGS. 7 and 8;
FIG. 10 is a view of an abutment member for release of articles used in this embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing the electronic control of this embodiment;
FIG. 12 is a detail showing power supply control system of FIG. 11;
FIG. 13 is a block diagram of a vending unit module of FIG. 11;
FIG. 14 is a block diagram of FIG. 11;
FIG. 15 is a view showing display on a screen of the vending unit for facilitating purchase o articles;
FIG. 16 is a view of a further display;
FIG. 17 is a view of yet a further display;
FIG. 18 is a perspective view of a vending unit according to a second embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 19 is a plan view of the floor of a dispensing unit according to the embodiment of FIG. 18;
FIG. 20 is a view along the line XXxe2x80x94XX of FIG. 19;
FIG. 21 is a front perspective view of a carriage used in the embodiment of FIGS. 18;
FIG. 22 is a side view of the carriage of FIG. 21;
FIG. 23 is a block circuit diagram applicable to the embodiment of FIG. 18;
FIG. 24 is a front view of a gate mechanism used in the second embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 25 is a view similar to FIG. 24 showing additional detail; and
FIG. 26 is a cross-sectional view along the line XXVIxe2x80x94XXVI of FIG. 24.